Meet the Valley’s Celebrity Sports Chiropractor, Dr. Dave Jensen

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September 29, 2016

article Bridget Grey | photography provided

Dr. Dave Jensen is known as a celebrity chiropractor to many of the top-tier athletes who frequent the Roaring Fork Valley. The website for the WIN Health Institute, which he founded in 2001, includes endorsements from top athletes like speed skiing champion Don Strickland, World Cup ski racer Jake Zemanski, St. Louis Blues pro hockey player Larry Giroux, martial artist Sundar Mim, ironman Kirk Harley, NASCAR driver Wally Dallenbach, pro football player Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers and rock drummer Ray DiBacco.

Rock drummer? Athlete?

Yes, that’s right. Dr. Jensen, explains that Ray “Super Chief” DiBacco, a hot seventies rock drummer who now lives in Aspen, is typical of musicians who get their whole bodies into the act. “I think that drumming is a type of music that’s as demanding as sports. Drummers get tendonitis and repetitive stress issues, particularly in the wrist, elbow, shoulders spine, ankles, knees and spine. So I do chiropractic treatments and massage for them.”

“I approach things a little differently than most chiropractors,” Jensen continues. “I believe that the body works as a whole system, biomechanically and neurologically. So whether you’re dealing with music or sports, you need to deal with the whole; the brain and the spinal chord run the whole body, so better they work, the better a musician or an athlete can perform.”

Dr. Jensen, who holds the highest sports credentialing that can be earned by a chiropractor, says that while he favors the use of medical technologies for diagnosis, he prefers to use “Old World techniques” to keep people healthy. Those techniques include stretching, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and dietary supplements and vitamins called neutraceuticals. “All of that, combined, makes people exponentially healthier,” Jensen says. “Education is a big part of my practice. Helping people to understand how to make themselves better is the best technique in health care.”

To keep people healthy and informed, Jensen has co-authored a book with his wife Dee entitled “The Thrival Theory–The Secret to WIN during Global Chaos!” He also has developed an online business, MyRemedyShop.com, which offers the latest natural advice and physician-grade neutraceuticals.

On the first visit a new patient makes to one of WIN’s three locations—one in Glenwood Springs, one in El Jebel and a mobile clinic based out of a high-end RV in Aspen—Jensen’s team conducts an initial exam to pinpoint what’s causing any problems. He specializes in chiropractic work for sports because it’s personally familiar territory.

“I was a high-level athlete myself. I tell people I’m not just seeing them as a doctor but also as an athlete,” he explains. “That comes from the root of who I am.”

Jensen travels with the Colorado 500 dirt bike race as its official doctor; he has run the race himself 10 times. In addition to mountain biking and dirt biking, he also likes to water ski, snowboard and snowmobile.

Dr. Jensen received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota with a focus on physiology and anatomy. While there, he worked more than three years in the famed Mayo Clinic’s Research Department. He received his chiropractic education at Parker University in Dallas. After moving to the Roaring Fork Valley, he was key in the founding of several local health centers, including MidValley Chiropractic and Wellness Center, and the Valley Wellness Centers.